By The Skin Of Their Teeth
by wheredidtherainbowgo
Summary: When a dare between friends goes terribly wrong, Tegan and Sara find themselves thrusted into a reality they never knew existed and struggling to escape a burning entity with both of their lives. Quincest.
1. Chapter 1: Too Young To Burn

******A/N: **Hi Everyone! Before reading we wanted to let you know this story is the product of a **wheredidtheygo** and **thatsoundssofictional** collaboration. We truly hope that you will enter our little fantasy world with an open mind and revel in the twists and turns we've prepared for you. Here is the first chapter, please let us know what you think, and more importantly, enjoy!

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**Chapter One: Too Young To Burn**

As the icy wind nipped through the buttoned winter coat bundled around Tegan, she fought, sucking the cold air into her lungs while the gusts pushed her back. The echoing crunch of her boots pounding the gravel floated into the air with every step as Tegan sulked closer, tightening the thick scarf around her neck. Even with the snowstorm coming and the below freezing temperature, parts of Tegan would not cease from burning. She had somehow escaped the worst imaginable feat of fleeing from her nightmare and the wrath of fire destroying her past, but she knew she would never be free.

The enamel of her teeth ground down as she clenched her jaw in pain. The faint burning pulse on her left wrist only grew more painful as she drew nearer to her destination. The stems of the twelve white roses in her hand bent and cracked from her fingers vice grip. Tegan had suspected the day would bring back the painful memories of that time, and manifest themselves physically, but not quite to this extent. Her gaze moved south to the marble stone before her, taking in the date of birth, as well as death. Her mind was incapable of wrapping around the fact that an entire year had passed since that haunting time.

Twelve months of constant visions and weekly therapy sessions did not comfort Tegan, if anything the help she sought hindered her, and she woke with a start nightly, fearful that she was trapped back in the suffering she'd endured. Her heart swelled as she lowered to her knees and fingered the name etched into the tombstone, placing the roses on top of the grave, and Tegan wept. The blistering on the inside of her left wrist elevated as her tears fell harder, and Tegan gritted her teeth as she succumbed to the agony, kneeling on her hands as she bent over. She struggled to inhale while everything blurred, and Tegan remembered being knocked to her hands and knees, in the same position, as she battled for her life.

The pressure of another's touch seeped through her many layers of warm clothing. She sunk lower to the ground, the top of her knitted beanie resting atop the hard, frozen earth. The flashing images behind her heavy eyelids became clearer with each passing. "_No_," she whimpered, the daunting visions convincing her that she was back inside those deteriorating walls. The one syllable word fell from her lips endlessly and the hand on her back slid upwards to her shoulder, squeezing in a way that should have been comforting but it only caused the burning to increase. Tegan hissed and pounded her fist into the ground, the sensation flowing from her fingertips to her toes. The owner of the arm drew backwards, clutching their own wrist in agony.

"Why are _you_here?" Tegan chewed her lip, piercing the skin, to contain the scream itching its way out of her lungs. The brand on her flesh flared as she licked away the drops of blood with the tip of her tongue, and her voice softened, "Please just stay back."

"You know why I'm here." Her companion offered gently. The sounds of another filled their ears and they glanced over their shoulder to spot the bundled figure approaching with its head down. Turning back to Tegan, they rolled their sleeve up to reveal the discolored imprint, "This is why we're all here. We feel it too, Tegan. You're not alone."

"I know I'm not." Tegan inched further away, her pain easing from scorching to smoldering with each countering steps. Her lashes fluttered as she eyed the approaching figure, "It just feels like I am."

"What's happening with her?" The other inquired, taking in Tegan's disheveled mental and physical state with worrisome eyes.

Tegan stared at both of their sunken faces and the crow creases around their empathic eyes. "_Ah_!" The yell came tumbling from her throat as her ears filled, stealing away her sense of hearing. With no sound, she felt as if she were submerged under water, drowning. The sight of their mouths moving and hands reaching out for her knocked her over, and she screamed, "We shouldn't be _here_ together!"

Tegan's company watched in heartfelt empathy. They understood her pain and desire to be alone, but they all had secluded themselves from each other long enough. Though those days were long gone, the memories were as fresh as the sympathetic flowers resting on the ground. They both reached out for Tegan again, this time slower, the cautiousness in their actions evident from the tremble in their hands. "Tegan, you've got to breathe."

She sucked in as much oxygen as she could stand, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, and let their fingertips touch her. They were her friends. She had to remember that. Even when it felt wrong, she knew it was right, they weren't here to hurt her, they were only here to heal her wounds. Tegan faced the tombstone again, caressing the petals of the flowers she'd laid down as her apology and confessed, "I miss _her_. Everyday, I miss her."

"I know, Tegan, I know." The warmth radiating from her friends passed through her, and they sympathized, "You aren't the only one who lost her. We all miss her." They helped her to her feet cautiously, afraid she would recoil from their touch again, and steadied her. They bent their knees, lowering themselves to match Tegan's small stature and finally looked at her for the first time in months. Their heart sunk to their stomach as their eyes locked onto her dull, depthless iris'.

Staring at Tegan felt like looking at the sun, if they studied her for too long they were sure to go blind, her lifelessness was damaging, and their retinas could only last for seconds before they felt burnt. "Let us take you home." Tegan saw the nude glossed lips of her friend moving and reached out to touch their softness to make sure they were real. They didn't flinch or slide away. To her surprise they puckered against her skin softly, as if they knew she needed their impression on her, and then on cue they repeated softer, "Lets go home, Tegan."

Home. The word manifested itself physically in a meager cloud of vapor from the crisp, wintry air. Tegan's entire being retracted as it reverberated within her skull. Home. It had been quite some time now since she had considered anywhere her home. Sure, there was a space that occupied her belongings and where she would go about her daily, monotonous routine but that didn't mean a thing now. A home had life, and more crucially, love. She didn't. Hers was gone, and she was utterly clueless on how to get it back, or if it would ever come back.

Tegan snugged her cap over her curls and turned to follow her friends down the hill they'd all climbed on the way up. If they wanted to go then she would let them take her wherever they thought was best. Her ability to determine anything for herself had dissipated the night she escaped and left her with an incompetence that forced her to rely on faded memories. Tegan could recall a time when they had all sat around and laughed together. It was a time that elicited images of innocence, before the burning marks and loss of hope altered her perceptions of trust.

The splattering drop of cold liquid against the back of her hand brought her back to reality. She slowly blinked, shocked to find that her eyes were dry and not the culprit of the wetness, and she trailed her gaze north. The glass bottle dripping with perspiration invaded her line of sight as she followed the delicate fingers wrapping themselves around the neck up to her friend's kind expression, waiting for Tegan to accept the poor man's therapy. "Drink this, it will make you feel better."

Tegan twisted her mouth in fear, declining politely, "No, thank you. I don't drink anymore." The bitter taste of beer was something she hadn't partook in months. She gave up on drowning her sorrows in alcohol. After all, it was the slurred effects of liquor that had gotten them to where they were now. Tegan preferred to numb her senses with denial, refusing to acknowledge the trauma she experienced until her trigger came walking through the front door.

"You should probably take a few sips." _She_ was here. The jolts from her raspy voice coating the air gutted Tegan and sweat pored from every pore as her mind told her to run, but her feet were sealed to their spot on the hardwood floors. Her lithe fingers caressed Tegan's jaw, sending a rush to her core from the loving touch that Tegan forgot existed as their bodies flushed together in heat, and Tegan didn't scurry from her as she did the others. The burning on her left wrist didn't flame when she was close, Tegan only felt the cooling tingle on her right, easing the agony within, and she knew she hadn't imagined her sitting there, on the couch, with their thin thighs grazing against each other as they swung back and forth.

Tegan pushed the thick material of the baggy sweater covering her partner's arm up to reveal the intricate key engraved into her skin. Her bony pointer finger traced its outline, intrigued by how healthy and alive the mark looked. She furrowed her brow and bunched her own sleeve, inspecting the identical key on herself. It was dull and flat, sunken into her pale skin. Tegan couldn't recall the last time she had felt its presence, or even remembered that it existed. "Watch." Tegan's eyes widened in fear and amazement as she watched the thumb caress her branded skin. Goosebumps rose from the touch Tegan knew was made for her and the blood pumping rapidly through her veins slowed its pace. The faded lines of the key darkened and Tegan found herself filling with emotions she was convinced she was no longer capable of feeling. Tegan smiled faintly, each stroke of her thumb banishing the demons that resided deep within her but like all things, Tegan knew it wouldn't last.

"Here." Tegan watched the beautiful brunette lift the beer to her mouth, trapping the bottle between her upper and lower lips, and Tegan shivered as they curled around the rim of the glass. Her pink tongue appeared, sweeping away the excess foam, and she handed the alcohol to Tegan, smiling sweetly, she coaxed, "Taste it. It's really good."

Tegan smiled weakly, still unsure, and tightened her fingers around the neck of the bottle, the shape feeling foreign to her. She swished the liquid around, listening to it faintly slosh against the sides before splashing back down, reminding her of the way the water would crash around her delicate body as she submerged it entirely beneath the surface, hoping to clear her mind if even for only a few seconds. Tegan felt the pressure of fingertips embrace her knee, and she blinked, looking at the woman out of the corner of her eye. "Go ahead," she assured Tegan with another squeeze of her fingers. Tegan lifted the bottle, looking to the faces of her other friends before placing it to her lips.

She had forgotten how good it felt to let the bitter suds dissolve on her tongue, and Tegan quickly took antsy sips of the beer, ready for the inevitable inebriation to come. The goosebumps started at the tips of her fingers and like a brailed page spread up her inked arms, telling their own story of desire, when her buds kicked in and she tasted a hint of the other fluids wetting the rim of the bottle. It wasn't the beer settling in her belly that caused her hands to shake, it was the scarce taste of _her_ accomplice's leftover saliva that forced Tegan to drink, trying to meet an unsatisfied need with insufficient drops, until there were no more sips left to take.

The bottle landed with a hollow clink on the coffee table before Tegan. She wiped the liquid coating her lips off with her sweatshirt sleeve and rolled her tongue along the inside of her spongy cheek, lapping up as much of the lingering taste as she could. A contented sigh passed her lips as they played at a smile. She had forgotten how much alcohol delighted her taste buds, and as her eyes darted around the room to each person still eyeing her with concern, she remembered how good it made her feel to be surrounded by those she considered closest to her. Tegan settled her eyes on the short brunette next to her, busy twisting the rigid metal top off another bottle. She took a small sip before offering it to Tegan. "Here. Another one won't hurt."

After relishing the first beer, Tegan gladly accepted the second one and eagerly emptied its contents, feeling her intoxication soar. Her friends smiled once she finished the brew and as if they were signaled to exit the room, they wordlessly turned and walked out of the front door, leaving Tegan alone with _her_. She grinned at Tegan, leaning in close, and her warm breath tickled the skin on her jaw when she said, "I've missed you."

Tegan understood her need to be close. They shared the same urges, and her confession slipped from between her lips as light as a feather, Tegan admitted, "It's been so hard without you."

"I know, but I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere." Her partner promised, walking her fingers up from Tegan's knee to the start of her thigh, and rested her hand on the rough denim, letting her thumb graze itself up and down, nearing the crevice between Tegan's legs.

Instinctively, Tegan spread her thighs, wanting to feel her touch again, and her eyes slammed shut when she felt the circled patterns traced into the crotch of her jeans. "_Please_." Tegan pleaded and laid back against the arm of the couch, succumbing to the tender fondling. Her graze was soft but each brush of her fingers felt like a head on collision, jerking Tegan forward in desperation as she arched her back and felt her zipper being lowered.

Tegan reached out blindly, snatching fistfuls of air until her hand crashed with another set of long, dexterous fingers. Her jaw snapped open and she tried to scream, the burning returned with added intensity as each finger folded to grasp the hand tightly in her own. It had never been this bad before. Her body twisted, trying to retreat, but it was out of the question, the weight from the body above her was too much for her incapacitated muscles.

"Fight through it." She coerced Tegan, perching herself further into her lap. "We _need_ to do this." Tegan saw the grit of her teeth and tears in her eyes, and for _her_, she tried to battle the evil surging, but failed miserably. The stinging was too intense, the onslaught of memories too fresh, and she couldn't breathe. Her lungs quit on her just as they did a year ago, and she felt her lips against her own as the blackness came, knocking her out. This was it, Tegan thought before fading away. This time, she was actually going to die.


	2. Chapter 2: The End Where We Begin

**Chapter Two: The End Where We Begin**

One Year Before

Tegan observed the beer flowing from the half empty bottle into Lindsey's parted lips that were left with a slick sheen each time she would swallow and then lick her lips with her moist tongue, lapping up the leftover drops. It was one of the many sights involving her crush that Tegan loved to see. Lindsey's laugh and smile filled the room, and Tegan couldn't help the grin forming on her own face while she slipped her arm behind Lindsey's waist to coerce her upward, wanting her to be sitting properly in her lap. Lindsey finished her sentence and dropped her gaze from Ted, who sat a few feet away in his favorite cushy recliner nursing his own beer, and looked to Tegan with a sly look, settling herself comfortably on Tegan's thigh. She threw her arm over Tegan's shoulder and snuggled in, blushing over the unfamiliar feeling of a soft, fleshy chest pressed into her own, compared to the muscular pecks she was experienced with. Baring only the tips of her teeth and gums, Tegan felt radiant as the sensation flowed through her body as well as witnessing the effect it had on the girl she had her sights set on. She curled her fingers around the beer bottle clasped in Lindsey's hand and lifted it to her dry, parched lips as her eyes landed on her twin sister Sara, who sat stuck between her recent ex, Emy, and her latest girlfriend Stacy.

Their eyes locked, and Tegan saw the hint of disapproval flash behind Sara's glossy eyes as her hazy gaze lingered over Lindsey's petite body. Sara's top lip curled up, a subtle grimace, then focused in on Tegan again, shooting her slitted daggers with her stare. Sara hated watching the woman who was stringing her sister along straddle her, their bodies too close for comfort, and she wanted to snatch them apart. It never occurred to her that those type of feelings weren't exactly sisterly or supportive, but her ultimate purpose in life was to always protect Tegan, even if they weren't as close as they should have been. It felt natural for Sara to want the best for Tegan, and by no means did she think Lindsey was good enough.

Sara picked up her own bottle of beer and swallowed the bitter liquor, sliding it down her throat before turning her attention briefly to Stacy. Hesitantly, Stacy had pulled Sara's hand into her lap, interlocking their fingers as she eyed Lindsey and Tegan, their openly affectionate behavior was something Sara knew Stacy craved from her, especially when they were in Emy's presence. Sara sighed, sensing Stacy's desire and cupped her chin to turn her towards her, away from Tegan and Lindsey. It was toxic for the both of them to stare at the giggly pair for too long. They represented so much of what Stacy and Sara wanted, though what those were, were two completely different things. Sara smiled weakly, and pressing her lips gently to Stacy's fleetingly, turned back to brood over her sister. Out of frustration Sara tightened her grip on her girlfriend's hand and Stacy, with her eyes still closed and lips still pursed, mistook the gesture as a sign of affection. Stacy leaned back in, expecting to be met with Sara's full soft lips, but found herself kissing Sara's ear instead. Sara flinched, raising a confused eyebrow to Stacy, and swallowed another gulp from her bottle.

Emy sat near Ted, watching them and cringing over the lack of affection their relationship seemed to hold. She knew all too well what it was like to be involved with a distant Sara, and her heart went out to Stacy in sympathy. From what Emy had gathered, Sara and Stacy had completely skipped the honeymoon phase of their relationship, and remembering how good that part of her relationship had been with Sara, she wanted Stacy to experience that, since she could no longer have it for herself. With the point of her shoe, she nudged it into Sara's thigh and shot her a glare, cocking her head towards Stacy sitting with her head turned away from the group, staring absentmindedly at a dark spot on the wall. Following Emy's gaze, Sara turned to Stacy, frowning. The guilt Sara had felt sometimes over being such a detached partner to Stacy was practically unbearable, especially since the feelings she had for Stacy were intense. She knocked her elbow into Stacy's getting her attention. "Babe, I'm going to get another drink. Do you need one?"

"Sure." Stacy replied, pulling in her pouty bottom lip, and quietly, she wiped away the moisture framing her lashes. Tegan spotted the collection of tears in Stacy's eyes, gathering in salty pools but remaining intact as if they refused to spill over the rim. As quickly as the tears appeared, they were gone, and Sara leaned over to Stacy, pushing her wavy brown hair away from her neck and placed the sweetest kiss there. The simple sentiment spoke volumes. More than the heavy onset of affection that Tegan laid on Lindsey. When Sara acted on her love, it was rare, and the infrequent gesture twisted the muscles in Tegan's abdomen, making her want to purge the beer she'd just consumed. Tegan watched Sara stand from her seat, her slender curves swaying as she tried to squeeze pass. With the swerve of her hips, Sara knocked over the bottle loosely palmed in Lindsey's hand, pouring the beer down the front of Tegan's button-up shirt.

"_Sara_!" Tegan shrieked, peeping the small smirk developing on Sara's face as her sister followed the sticky liquid sliding down her chest and Lindsey jumped up from her lap. Sara mumbled a low, "_sorry_", and kept moving towards the refrigerator in the kitchen to retrieve two new bottles for her and Stacy. Tegan chased behind Sara, lightly bumping her into the counter with knee and snapped, "What the fuck is your issue?"

"It was an accident." Sara whispered, agitated, biting her tongue to keep her voice hushed from the eavesdropping ears less than a foot away. She tried to lower her eyes when Tegan turned to face her, turning her back to the group of people behind them, Tegan began to unbutton her shirt, revealing the cotton bra beneath and the mist of beer running over her flat stomach.

"Hand me a napkin please." Tegan pointed at the roll of paper towels next to Sara, who was frozen, her stare drinking in the smooth skin stretched across the firm outline of abs. When Sara wouldn't move, Tegan reached for the roll, tearing off a few towels and cleaned the warm drops. Her lip curled upwards as she snarled, "You're being weird Sara."

Sara shook the indecent thoughts clouding her mind away, and reached for the bottle opener to pop off the caps to her and Stacy's drinks. "_I'm_ being weird?" Sara scoffed, rolling her eyes quickly then focusing in on Tegan's deft fingers buttoning her damp top back up. Sara cleared her throat, jabbing her bony shoulder into Tegan's identical one, and sneered, spilling her snarky opinion into Tegan's ear with her alcohol stained breath. "_I'm_ not the one groping some needy, attention-seeking straight girl in front of her friends just to feel validated that she's not just some sexual experiment."

Tegan flinched, hearing Sara's words that she feared were completely true made her fingers tremble, causing the dirty tissues to crumple between her tight, whitening knuckles. The tension between the two was palpable, enough to make the group squirm in their seats as they strained their ears to listen in, and still, Sara continued. "Not that you two have gotten even anywhere close to fucking yet."

A low growl rumbled deep in Tegan's throat and she forcefully nudged Sara away from her, unable to take anymore without flying off the handle or creating an even bigger scene. She walked over to the sink, turning the faucet on to wash her sticky hands, feeling Sara's leering eyes on her as she returned to Stacy with a slight skip in her step. The blood coursing through Tegan's veins boiled and she shook her hands, flinging the warm droplets from them and reached for the handle of the fridge, her troubled thoughts beckoning for _anything_ stronger than beer. Tempted by the inch high clear liquid buried in the back, Tegan pulled the bottle of vodka out and poured herself a double shot. She threw back the acrid alcohol with a shudder and returned to Lindsey, ushering her up from the couch. Turning to Ted and Emy, careful to avoid making eye contact with her sister and her girlfriend talking quietly amongst themselves, Tegan smiled half-heartedly. "It's getting kind of late. We're going to head out."

"Ah, c'mon Teegs! The night's just getting started!" Ted slurred, getting to his feet with a stumble. He moved closer to Tegan and Lindsey, pulling them into each of his arms as he held their waists in his grip.

"I think the party is over now." Tegan cocked her left eyebrow, rolling her eyes at her sister as she shifted uncomfortably in her boots. Sara spun around to scan Tegan once she heard her announcement to leave and lifted the beer back to her lips, swallowing the rest of the suds. She realized that may have been a mistake with all of their intoxication levels slipping past slightly tipsy and nearing the land of the wasted, and Sara couldn't help but agree with her twin that maybe it was time to call it a night.

"Just one more drink, Tee." Emy steered Tegan, using her taller frame to turn Tegan's tiny body back towards the chair she'd previously occupied. Tegan sat first, then Lindsey. This time Tegan was conscious to have Lindsey sit in the space next to her as Sara's blunt words chewed away at her bruised pride. Emy smiled widely at her small accomplishment to get them to stay and Ted went to the kitchen to grab another six-pack of beers, setting the cold bottles in the center of his living room table. With her toothy grin, Emy asked, "How about a story?"

"Sure." Sara sneered, her body completely facing Emy and the rest of the group now. She felt Stacy snake her arm around her stomach, settling into position behind her with her pointy chin resting on Sara's right shoulder, and Sara told herself to not tense up, to let Stacy hold her, if holding her was what she needed to do.

"So there was this old lady who lived in the back woods-" Emy started, cracking open a new beer. She waited, sipping slowly, and once she had everyone's attention, she continued, "-and she was really evil. Like eat your kids, kill your cat kind of evil. Everyone in town thought she was a witch, but I'm not sure if that part is true or not."

From his seat on the floor in front of the gaggle of girls, Ted snickered, "How are you going to tell the story if you don't know all of it?"

"Shut it up Ted." Emy giggled, pointing her finger in his direction and wiped the leftover beer from her mouth with the back of her hand. She slurred, "Old Lady Claude, that's what everyone-"

"_Claude_? Oh, she sounds like an old bitty who cooks kitties." Ted snorted, interrupting Emy, as he bent over into an alcohol induced laughing fit. Lindsey chuckled, laughing along with him and placed her hand over his mouth, wanting Emy to finish, she looked over to her and nodded, "Go on, Emy."

Sara caught Tegan's eye and sniggered, knowing she couldn't have missed the flirtatious tone in Lindsey's laugh. Tegan glowered, her strong jaw tightening, and she zoned in on Emy, ready for her to continue and finish her story so she could take home Lindsey home with the full intent of proving Sara wrong.

Emy rolled her eyes playfully and clearing her throat, she clasped her hands over one of her knees, her half full bottle situated between her thighs. "Anyway, as I was saying, Old Lady Claude was an evil witch, well, maybe," Emy laughed to herself, "and she lived up near Cove Forest in this big old creepy mansion all by herself. They say she murdered her husband after he threatened to leave her because she was barren, and that she kept his heart in this little wooden chest."

"Eww!" Stacy squirmed behind Sara, tightening her hold on Sara's stomach and blowing her warm breath against Sara's exposed neck as she laughed quietly. Stacy wet her lips before softly kissing the vein in Sara's throat, her eyes caught Emy's cloudy ones as she pulled away from Sara and piped up, "How did she get his heart anyway?"

"Apparently, she cut it out while it was still beating." Emy spied the sweet kiss between Sara and Stacy and switched her attention back to Tegan, Lindsay and Ted, their glossy eyes watching her lips move as she concluded, "Legend says she used witchcraft to capture his heart and anyone else's soul who comes into her presence with her book full of spells. The book is still in the house, along with his pumping heart."

"Bullshit." Ted laughed harder, dusting the seat of his pants off as he stood to his wobbly feet. "We have to see this, where is the house?"

"I'm not going to some crazy old witch's house." Tegan protested, shaking her head and preparing to walk out the front door. Lindsey stopped her, hugging Tegan's hips, she teased, "You don't really believe in _witches_, do you?"

"Of course not!" Tegan stated, a smile tugging at her lips over the grip on her hips. She turned around, facing Lindsey. Wrapping her arms around her neck and pressing their pelvises together, Tegan raised her eyebrows. "Do _you_?"

"Sure, why not?" Lindsey laughed with a shrug, slipping her hands into Tegan's back pockets, coaxing her. "Let's go, we could use the adventure."

Tegan bit her lip, staring at Lindsey's excited face as she thought it over. She felt powerless to say no to Lindsey, and looking over to Ted and Emy, bouncing impatiently in their seats and nodding encouragingly for Tegan to let herself go a little. "Fine," she sighed, giving in, if only for the sweet kiss on her lips she earns from Lindsey.

"How about you two?" Ted turned to Sara and Stacy, wiggling his eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

Sara was completely against the idea of wandering off into some unknown woods, in the middle of the night, to search for the abandoned house of some old cruel spirit with a bleeding heart, but she couldn't let Tegan go and not follow along. She checked in with Stacy, leaning in close, she whispered in her ear, "Do you want to go?"

Stacy had other ideas in mind for how she wanted to spend the night which leaned more towards her screaming to the top of her lungs because of the dirty things she wanted Sara to do to her, not from walking through some creepy haunted house. "I'll go if you go." Stacy compromised as her tongue brushed against the cartilage of Sara's ear. "But you owe me."

Listening in to their sultry whispers, Tegan interrupted the pair, clearing her throat, she leaned over the back of the couch between them and with her face inches from her twin, she insisted, anxiously, "Lets go."

"Yes!" Ted beamed, smacking his hands together and rubbing them excitedly, he took off to the spare bedroom to grab the girls' pile of winter clothing. With their poofy, warm jackets bundled tightly around their bodies, already warmed from the copious amounts of alcohol consumed, the group piled into Ted's old beat up pick-up truck. Stacy climbed into the driver's seat, being deemed the most sober, with Sara next to her in the middle, and Emy in the front passenger seat to give half-assed directions. Tegan, Lindsey, and Ted snuggled into the cramped back, giving Sara an excellent, but unwanted, view of them through the rearview mirror.

Sara tried to focus on her finger tracing lazy figure eights into Stacy's inner thigh as they passed the glowing streets of downtown Vancouver and into the dark, curvy roads of the country side but Tegan's stare burning into the back of her head was too much to ignore. She swallowed, moving her hand upwards on Stacy's thigh and flicked her lidded eyes back to the mirror, meeting Tegan's shiny eyes.

Breaking the intense stare with Sara, Tegan squinted at Lindsey, wishing she would take away the confusing tingles traveling up from the soles of her feet to the meat of her thighs. She shivered, watching Lindsey smirk at Ted, before giving Tegan her attention. Lindsey quickly placed a sloppy kiss on Tegan's cheek to pacify the hungry look in her eyes, unaware that the look Tegan was dishing out had nothing to do with Lindsey at all.

"I think it's down this road." Emy directed them along the crooked unpaved path, her drowsy words stole Tegan's focus, and she looked back into the mirror to find Sara still watching her. Out of the window, Tegan studied the tall oak trees packed together and the starless sky above their heads. There was no way of knowing where they were or how they ended up here, and Tegan started to regret her decision as the night grew darker and the effects of her alcohol began to relent.

Stacy killed the engine and followed Emy's precise instructions to park the truck in front of a two way fork in the middle of the forest. They were unsure of which way to turn, neither left or right looked appealing with its dark shadowed roads and overgrown mass as they all hopped out of the truck, stumbling on their feet and quietly trailed behind Emy, who chose to go right.

In the far distance, Sara spotted the beginnings of the isolated house. It was brick, and bigger than she expected, reminding her of one of those plantation houses that she'd seen in movies with its peeling white paint and wrap around porch. They drew nearer to the house, their hesitant footsteps crunching in the packed snow littered with broken twigs, snapping under the weight from each step taken. Lined up, shoulder to shoulder at the bottom of the porch steps, twelve widened eyes peered up at the deteriorating house, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"This is creepy. Let's go back." Sara grimaced, turning her nose up in disgust, scanning her gaze over the fuzzy damp moss covering the railing. She gripped Stacy's hand, clammy from fear with the burning still lingering on her thigh from Sara's fleeting touch, more than ready to return to the populated city.

"Don't be such a buzz kill, Sara. This is awesome!" Ted argued, tapping his foot against the first step, checking to see if it was sturdy enough to hold his weight. The rotting wood creaked, dipping lower to the ground from the added pressure, but it didn't collapse. Satisfied, Ted grinned and took a deep breath, trapping it in his lungs and ran up the remaining steps. He exhaled, bouncing on his heels from the alcohol and adrenaline coursing through his veins, and waved for the rest of them to join them with a thumbs up.

Lindsey laughed and stepped forward, leaving Tegan's hold on her waist, eager to join Ted. She nudged him in the side when she reached the top, the both of them bursting into a fit of laughter and flapping their arms like chickens, mocking their jittering friends.

Tegan, embarrassed, squared her shoulders and marched up with a huff, taking her place behind Lindsey with her hands linked across her stomach, and glowered down at Sara, tempting her. Sara grounded her teeth together, and dragging Stacy along with her, took the steps two at a time, leaving only Emy remaining on the hard, frozen earth.

Emy smiled to herself, staring up at everyone waiting for her impatiently, pulled the flashlight she found in the glovebox out from behind her back and flicked it on, holding it under her chin to give herself an eery glow. Her lips twisting into an evil smirk, she continued the haunting tale. "Legend says that she laid out the body right where you're all standing as an offering to the spirits and if you come here on the anniversary of his death, you can still see his mangled body, blood spewing from the cavity in his chest."

"That's disgusting!" Stacy scrunched up her nose, lifting her feet one at a time as if the dead man could grab her ankles and pull her under the wooden porch with him. She scoffed, "Well, it's been fun, but I think we should leave now."

"Nonsense." Ted laughed, waving Emy closer. "Bring that flashlight here. Let me see if I can pick this lock."

Emy walked cautiously up the few steps to join her friends and handed the light to Ted. Humming with enthusiasm, Ted bent over to level himself eye to eye with the iron doorknob, searching the round lever for the keyhole. Unable to locate the entry point, he twisted the latch in frustration and jumped excitedly when the door crept open.

"We're in!" He shouted victoriously to the gang of girls standing behind him. Ted walked in first, with Lindsey and Tegan close behind and Sara, Stacy and Emy nervously stepping in last.

The inside of the mansion was worse than the outside, with the spiraling double staircase and boarded windows. Under their heavy feet, the hardwood floors moaned and the strangely placed mirrors hanging in the corridor of the house were all shattered, distorting their images. Ted turned to his left, tripping over the large, worn book by his feet covered in connected cobwebs. He brushed away the dust with his palm before flipping open the cover and running his index finger over the faded engraved words, reciting aloud:

"Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen  
Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen  
Let their flesh tear  
Let their blood pour from their wounds  
When they are beaten they shall cry from the pain  
Let their bones break  
And however they try  
Destroy them all  
Let them die  
Let them burn"

As the spell left his mouth, the words on the page lit up, tracing the paper like highlighted fire and Ted dropped the book in a hurry. "What the fuck?" Tegan and Sara echoed in unison, expressing their twined thoughts over the ludicrous situation, then turned together to back out of the house, but the door slammed shut, locking them inside. Rapidly, the lights flickered on and off, and Sara released her hold on Stacy as Tegan let Lindsey go, gripping desperately onto each other.

"Uhm, guys?" Emy swallowed, beads of sweat sprouting on her forehead, she trailed her gaze to the grimy floor beneath Tegan and Sara's feet.

Sara's cheek brushed against Tegan's as she turned her head towards Emy, concerned, and following her horrified stare to the ground under them, her jaw dropped. Tegan looked down, shrieked, and pushed Sara away from her, sending the pair scrambling backwards, completing the circle of bodies around the wood glowing a faint crimson hue.

Slowly, the floorboards began to tremble, disintegrating into the shape of a large, complicated lock. Small flames flickered out from the gaps, illuminating the entry way and with an abrupt, deafening crack, six surging strings of deep red emitted from the lock and latched onto each of the petrified witnesses. High pitched cries spewed out from their slackened jaws and they all scampered to remove their coats and roll their sleeves up, freezing in horror, the threads of fire burning into their quivering flesh.


End file.
